


In the Still of the Night

by TaleasOldasTimeandSpace



Series: Darcy Lewis, Consulting Detective [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Balrog the Bilgesnipe, Bucky would like to SLEEP, Crack, Darcyland, Fluff, Gen, Sherlock AU, bagpipe sneak attack, he did not ask for a concert in the middle of the night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2019-01-16 09:34:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12340074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaleasOldasTimeandSpace/pseuds/TaleasOldasTimeandSpace
Summary: Nobody expects 2AM bagpipes.  Bucky certainly doesn't.





	In the Still of the Night

**Author's Note:**

> In the best Hobbit birthday tradition, have a present :)

An unholy wail like the adolescent offspring of a foghorn and a banshee cut across the 2AM silence of Baker Street, ripping Bucky from an unusually dreamless sleep and sending him tumbling to the floor, knocking his arm off the chair next to the bed on his way down.  He came up clutching the gun he kept under his pillow for emergencies, ready to take on whatever horror was threatening his new home.  It wasn't until he was about halfway down the hall that he realized the tone of the wail was fluctuating, interspersed with bursts of random notes and snatches of melody.

He was starting to have the sneaking suspicion that Baker Street was not, in fact, being invaded by Nazguls.  Not unless they were strangely musical Nazguls.  Still, he was cautious as he poked his head into the living room.

The room was comfortingly free of black-robed wraiths.  Instead, he saw Darcy wandering aimlessly around the furniture, her face vacant as she played an odd, disjointed melody on her bagpipes.   _Bagpipes._  Apparently she really wasn’t kidding when she said she played bagpipes at all hours.  Balrog was draped on the couch, looking strangely boneless as his front half oozed onto the floor.  Occasionally he lifted his head and howled along with whatever Darcy was playing.  He had a surprisingly good voice.

As she made a loop around one of the armchairs, she caught sight of him watching her from the doorway.  She stopped playing, her vacant expression quickly morphing into one of guilt.  ‘Bucky!  You’re awake!’

He snorted.  ‘Kinda hard not to be at this point, dontcha think?’

She chewed her lip thoughtfully.  ‘True.’  

‘How is it that you haven’t been kicked out for disturbing the neighbours?’

She shrugged, making the heavy tassels hanging from her pipes sway.  ‘Thor and Steve helped us soundproof the apartment back when Jane and I first moved in.  Tony gave us some nifty insulation that makes it so you can’t hear anything from outside.  For some reason the people around here don’t appreciate bagpipes.’

‘I can’t imagine why,’ Bucky said dryly.

‘Ah, right.  Sorry for waking you up.  I was so focused on this problem that I kinda forgot you were here.’  She moved to take the pipes off her shoulder, but he waved a hand.

‘No, it’s okay.  You said it helps you think, and you’re working on that serial suicide case, right?’

‘Murder, not suicide,’ she grumbled, hitching the pipes higher on her shoulder.

He rolled his eyes.  ‘Point is, you want this solved as soon as possible, and if playing bagpipes at two in the morning will do that, then go ahead.  I’ll get some earplugs, and I now that I know what to expect, I’ll be able to sleep through it in the future.  It’s a skill I picked up in the army.’  Instead of going back to his room, he set his gun on the coffee table and joined Balrog on the couch, tucking his feet under the dog’s belly.  Balrog grumbled a bit, but repositioned to accommodate Bucky.  ‘You sound good, not that I know what it’s supposed to sound like.  It’s...peebrock...right?’

‘Piobaireachd, yes.’  Her fingers moved absently, playing a phantom melody as she talked.  ‘It’s classical bagpipe music.  The repetition and variation are soothing, and I’ve found that I can work through problems in the back of my mind while I’m playing.’

‘Does the song you’re playing have a name?’

‘It’s not a song, it’s a chune.’  She snickered.  ‘Sorry, that’s just something one of my teachers always said—songs have words, so pipers play tunes.  Only he had a pretty thick accent, so it came out chune.  And yes, the tune does have a name— _The Piper’s Warning to His Master.’_

Bucky blinked sleepily.  ‘That’s quite a title.’

‘Yeah, it’s awesome.  It’s about this castle that gets captured by enemy forces while the laird’s away.  The piper tells them that they’ve gotta let him play when his master comes back, or he’ll know something’s up.  They say okay, but no funny business.  So he goes up to the top of the castle and plays this piobaireachd, but he flips the order the lines are played in.  the laird knows something’s up and instead of coming home and getting killed, he goes away, gets reinforcements, and comes back to thump the bad guys.  The castle is saved, and all thanks to the piper!’

‘That's pretty cool.  What happened to the piper, though?  I bet the bad guys weren't happy with him.’

‘The story says they cut his hands off as punishment, so yeah, not too happy.’

Bucky winced, his right hand twitching sympathetically.  ‘Ouch.’

‘Ouch indeed.’  She started filling up the bag with air.  ‘Sure you don’t mind?’

He waved his hand before tucking it behind his head.  ‘Nah, go for it.’  As she started playing again, he closed his eyes.  It was still loud, but it wasn’t nearly as bad now that he was expecting it.  And she was right—it was weirdly soothing.  He yawned widely and settled deeper into the couch, letting himself drift back to sleep as Darcy played the strange melody.

* * *

 

‘THAT’S IT!’

Bucky was jerked from sleep a second time by Darcy’s shriek.  It wasn’t quite as loud as her pipes, but it came pretty close.

‘That’s what?  What’s going on?’  He braced his hand against the couch to keep himself from falling off.  Balrog, who had migrated to Darcy’s chair sometime in the night, raised his head to smirk at Bucky.

‘I figured it out!’  Darcy grinned down at him from her perch on the back of the couch.  The wall was plastered with newspaper clippings, photos, scribbled notes, and copies of police reports, studded with thumbtacks, and draped in a tangle of string.  The mess hadn’t been there when he fell asleep.  ‘Well, not all of it, but I’m close!’  She flopped onto the couch beside him, making him bounce.

‘You know who did it?’

‘Not yet, but Jennifer—the woman in pink—she knows who killed her, and she left us a clue.  A warning.  We just have to follow it and we’re home free.  Easy peasy!’

He laughed, scrubbing his hand over his face.  ‘Easy peasy.  Sure.’

**Author's Note:**

> Will Bucky ever get a full night's rest? Eh, probably not. But he and Darcy agree that her pipes are still quieter than Steve's snoring.
> 
> Piper's Warning is an actual tune, and a fun one to play. The story is one my teacher told me (all piobaireachds have a story behind them). Workers found a skeleton missing its hands buried under the cobblestones of castle Duntrune during renovations, so the story has some truth to it.
> 
> I turned thirty today, peeps! This isn't as polished as I would like, but I wanted to post it on my birthday. I made it. Just.
> 
> Come say hi on [tumblr!](https://taleasoldastime-andspace.tumblr.com/ask)
> 
> Namarie, my little bilgesnipes!


End file.
